![]() ![]() Or maybe it was a lack of their own culture and identity that drove (mostly white) people into tattoo shops asking for a word in a language they’d never heard spoken aloud. Perhaps this sudden trend owes credit to the dawn of the internet, where people could translate words like “hope” and “strength” into characters from both the Chinese and Japanese languages. “A rose with brown leaves is a lot less attractive than a rose with green leaves,” he said.ĪP videojournalist Sylvain Plazy contributed.In the early nineties, it was as if all Westerners woke up and decided to have a Chinese symbol tattooed on their body. Veldhoen said it leaves him with awful choices when a customer will walk into his Amsterdam shop. Up to now pigments Blue 15 and Green 7 are still enjoying a grace period until next year because no alternatives are yet available. ![]() The petition pair is already preparing for the next battle. Others say the small tattoo industry is easily targeted while the tobacco and alcohol industries still hold much more sway. “They continue to obtain their tattooing products without any checks and without the possibility of tracing them,” he said. Michl Dirks, who is behind a “Save the Pigments” petition which has already collected 176,000 signatures in the EU objects to such conditional phrasing and insists the ban is not sufficiently backed by science, something which the EU disputes.Įrich Maehnert, co-organizer of the petition, said such bans unduly hurt the industry since people will use illegal ways to get the products from third countries. The EU's chemical agency ECHA says that allergic and inflammatory skin reactions “are expected to decrease thanks to the restriction.” It adds that “more serious effects such as cancer, harm to our DNA or the reproductive system potentially originating from chemicals used in the inks could also decrease.” On top of that “a bottle costs double compared to the one we have today.”Ĭonsidering that at least 12 percent of Europeans have tattoos, and double that number in the 18-35 age group, according to EU figures, strict health guidelines were necessary. The Commission says alternatives to the banned products do exist but tattoo parlors say they’re too slow to make their way from the manufacturers to their shops.Īngelo Bedani of Brussels’ Boucherie Moderne tattoo parlor said he had nothing to prepare with since the new inks had only become available a week ago. Seven EU nations already had national restrictions. It is a sort of generalization of practice which is already existing in quite a few member states,” said EU spokesman Eric Mamer. “So this is not something which is either a surprise or a complete novelty. The bloc says the consultation process began in 2016 while the official regulation heralding Wednesday's start of restrictions dates back to Dec. “There should have been a lot more preparation.” “It is all rather sudden," Veldhoen said. Now they say a perfectly avoidable crisis is hitting them even harder. Tattoo shops in the 27-nation bloc have had a rough two years since COVID-19 hit with restrictions and lockdowns. “Because, like a painter, you suddenly lose a gigantic part of your palette” with no alternatives in sight.Īnd he warned that it could even get worse next year when more inks currently in use could be banned. In Amsterdam, Tycho Veldhoen has plied his trade for a quarter century and fears an “enormous impact" on his work once certain colors are banned. The standoff between regulation and freedom of artistic expression has triggered a torrent of complaints and accusations. The 27-nation bloc answers back that public health will be much better served with tougher restrictions on elements in ink that may cause cancer or allergies. BRUSSELS - Tattoo parlors say their art will lose a lot of its vibrancy after European Union rules banning thousands of chemicals in their coloring ink kick in on Wednesday.
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